Joe Biden is escalating claims that President Trump is stoking civil unrest, running with a vivid television advertisement that features scenes of rioting in cities.
The new spot from the Democratic presidential nominee is running in Wisconsin to coincide with the president’s visit on Tuesday to Kenosha. Produced in coordination with the Democratic National Committee, it includes video footage from Kenosha, where violence erupted after the controversial shooting of a black man by a white police officer. In the ad, which is also running in other key battleground states and on cable television in Washington, D.C., the Biden campaign describes the mayhem as unfolding in “Trump’s America.”
“He won’t bring us together. He doesn’t want to and never will,” the voice-over says as the 30-second spot opens. “He only divides, inflames, infuriates, and tears people apart, always making things worse.”
The advertisement was inserted into the Biden campaign advertising rotation on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the former vice president delivered a similar message during prepared remarks in Pittsburgh. In choosing to amplify the attack through a television spot targeting swing-state voters, the Biden campaign is signaling a willingness to engage with Trump on the issue of public safety as part of a strategy to turn the president’s “law and order” pitch against him.
“Trump has made our country less safe and now he denies responsibility for the chaos happening under his watch? It’s unhinged,” DNC spokeswoman Lily Adams said in a statement.
Biden’s move comes after last week’s Republican National Convention in which Trump and his allies spent the four-day gathering warning voters that Biden was aligned with violent leftists and would stand idly by as rioting proliferated in communities across the country.
The president has been making similar accusations since civil unrest broke out in cities across the United States in late May after George Floyd, a black man, died at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. But Trump appeared to make more headway with the charge when riots exploded in Kenosha after Jacob Blake, who is black, was shot seven times in the back by police.
Some Republican insiders say the issue could be the answer to Trump’s woes with disaffected Republicans, especially in the suburbs — and even more so in Wisconsin, a must-win state for the president. To drive the message home, Trump headed to Kenosha to tour the damage from the riots and show voters that he was committed to stopping the violence.
“A lot of people are looking at what’s happening to these Democrat-run cities, and they’re disgusted,” Trump told reporters as he departed for Wisconsin. “They see what’s going on, and they can’t believe this is taking place in our country. I can’t believe it either.”
So far, Biden’s counterpunch at Trump has received praise from Democratic insiders and grassroots liberals. Party stalwarts were concerned that the president was gaining traction with the issue. Left-wing activists had hungered for the nominee to confront the incumbent more aggressively, but some Democrats believe Biden has more work to do.
Basil Smikle, a Democratic operative in New York City, said the former vice president has to pair attacks on Trump with a practical blueprint laying out how a Biden administration would diffuse tensions and reconcile societal divisions.
“Amplifying the president’s shortcomings and more chaotic approach to governance helps voters understand the difference between Biden and Trump,” Smikle said. “But they still need to fill the void by providing information about what Democrats are going to do going forward. Why are we better? We can’t be better just because we’re not him.”
